ClickCease Extended Lifecycle Support for Ubuntu 18.04 - TuxCare

Ubuntu 18.04 receives Ubuntu Standard Support from Canonical with security patches through June 2023.

Ignoring the deadline and not doing anything is the only option you don’t have. After 31 May 2023, unsupported Ubuntu 18.04 versions will be at far greater risk of a successful cyberattack.

To stay secure, you need to switch to Ubuntu 20.04 or 22.04 before then. If you can’t migrate in time (and migrating in a rush is never a good idea), you’ll need to sign up for a costly Ubuntu Pro subscription with extended security maintenance.

Fortunately, there’s a more affordable option with TuxCare’s Extended Lifecycle Support.

Don’t risk it.

Don’t risk it. Sign up for TuxCare Extended Lifecycle Support (ELS) to migrate to Ubuntu 20.04 on your own schedule – without the risks involved in a rushed migration

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What Do You Get with TuxCare’s ELS?

Fast delivery times

that quickly supply security patches when a new CVE is reported, making sure your Ubuntu release 18.04 workloads are safe against new threats.

Zero tooling changes

because updates work just like they did before. You can continue to use the same tools and scripts that you already have in place, with TuxCare providing a new repository for your updates.

Top expertise

from a team that has spent more than a decade working with a range of Linux distributions, including Ubuntu.

Worry-free confidence

 that you can use your Ubuntu 18.04 EOL machines without concerns of emerging cybersecurity threats, thanks to TuxCare’s rapid security updates.

Packages supported by TuxCare ELS

When you sign up for TuxCare Extended Lifecycle Support, you’ll get patches for the Ubuntu kernel, Apache, PHP, Glibc, OpenSSL, OpenSSH, and Python packages, as well as others – like...

  • apache2
  • apt
  • ansible
  • bash
  • binutils
  • busybox
  • curl
  • clamav
  • cups
  • dnf
  • dhcp
  • dbus
  • glibc
  • grub2
  • openssh
  • openssl
  • linux
  • mysql
  • nginx
  • nss
  • php
  • python2
  • python3
  • postfix
  • rsync
  • samba
  • sudo
  • systemd
  • wget
  • … And more

Understanding Ubuntu End of Life (EOL)

An operating system (OS) reaches EOL when the software vendor no longer produces patches for updates and problems found in the OS – including security risks.

With Ubuntu, EOL happens in two stages: first, when free standard support ends, then five years after a long-term support (LTS) release is published. At that point, anyone relying on free support for Ubuntu will lose that service.

Only Ubuntu users paying for Ubuntu Pro, a relatively expensive and comprehensive support package, will continue to receive security updates for another five years – thanks to the included extended security maintenance, after which support under Ubuntu Pro also ends.

Ubuntu release 18.04 (Bionic Beaver) is now at the point in the Ubuntu release cycle where standard support will soon be suspended.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, for now. That’s because in the Ubuntu release cycle every Ubuntu LTS release has a fixed support window that lasts for five years.

In the case of Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, the free support window ends June 2023 when Ubuntu users will no longer receive patches for critical security vulnerabilities – unless they choose to pay for Ubuntu Pro, which comes at a substantial cost. For many users, this essentially means Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver machines reach end of life in June 2023.

If you’re using Ubuntu 18.04, you need to upgrade to Ubuntu release 20.04 LTS or another distribution as soon as you can, but, as always, rushing a migration is never a good idea. Instead, consider using TuxCare’s Extended Lifecycle Support for Ubuntu 18.04, which will give you the time you need to upgrade to Ubuntu 20.04.

Yes, and – until June 2023 – nothing will change. After that, any Ubuntu 18.04 machines not switched to a newer version of Ubuntu will lose free support from the Ubuntu team. Servers using Ubuntu 18.04 will continue to work, but the Linux kernel will be vulnerable to threats that emerge after 31 May 2023 because there are no ongoing security updates.

With no vendor security updates forthcoming after 31 May 2023, it’s critical that Ubuntu 18.04 users plan to migrate – or find a partner to extend support until they’re ready to migrate.

Ubuntu Pro is one of the alternatives, but the price is relatively high, which is not ideal if all you need is patching. TuxCare offers Extended Lifecycle Support that is much more affordable than Ubuntu Pro: at just $102 per instance, you can start protecting Ubuntu 18.04 machines right now.

Ubuntu 20.04 LTS released on April 23, 2020, which is called Focal Fossa, and still has several years of ongoing support left with free standard support security updates through April 2025. You have the option to pay for Ubuntu Pro extended security maintenance through 2030. However, in 2024, you should start planning for a migration for when the next LTS version is released, so that you’re not forced to migrate in a rush.

Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS Bionic Beaver was released on April 26, 2018, in line with the usual Ubuntu release schedule. At release, Ubuntu’s standard support started and you continue to receive security updates for Bionic Beaver right through June 2023.

The next LTS versions of Ubuntu, Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa and Ubuntu 22.04 Jammy Jellyfish, were released on April 23, 2020 and April 21, 2022 respectively.

The Ubuntu release schedule dictates that Ubuntu releases a new long-term support (LTS) release every two years. For example, Bionic Beaver was preceded by Ubuntu 16.04 Xenial Xerus in 2016, and before that came Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr, which was released in 2014.

There are also regular Ubuntu interim releases, but these don’t enjoy the full five years of free support given to LTS versions. Only the LTS versions in the release cycle, such as Bionic Beaver, Focal Fossa, and Jammy Jellyfish, get Ubuntu’s standard support – while interim releases only enjoy nine months of support.

For example, while Ubuntu 21.10 (Impish Indri), Ubuntu 21.04 (Hirsute Hippo), and Ubuntu 20.10 (Groovy Gorilla) are all production-quality releases, the fact that they’re interim releases and only include a limited support window means that Impish Indri, Hirsute Hippo, and Groovy Gorilla are not fit for enterprise use.

Other major Enterprise Linux Distributions
with TuxCare ELS

TuxCare’s Extended Lifecycle Support is also available for CentOS 6, CentOS 7, CentOS 8, Oracle Linux 6,
and Ubuntu 16.04 LTS operating systems.

Extended Lifecycle Support 
for CentOS 8

End of life: December 2021

All the way through January 2026, you can rely on TuxCare for Extended Lifecycle Support that covers your CentOS 8 Linux distributions for kernel updates – so that you have enough time to migrate to another Linux distribution.

Extended Lifecycle Support 
for Oracle Enterprise Linux 6

End of life: March 2021

TuxCare will deliver Extended Lifecycle Support for Oracle Linux 6 right up until December 2024. ELS will save you significantly on costs compared to Oracle Linux’s Premier Support – and gives you the same coverage against critical security vulnerabilities.

Extended Lifecycle Support 
for Ubuntu 16.04

End of life: April 2021

Just like with Ubuntu 18.04 EOL, you can save on costs compared to Ubuntu Pro for Ubuntu 16.04 when you choose TuxCare Extended Lifecycle Support for ongoing maintenance for Ubuntu 16.04, which will keep you protected for up to 4-7 years past EOL.